Paramount
As director Alexander Payne has grown more complex in his storytelling over the years, so have his unusually driven characters. Some might argue that Payne's films feel a tad too convoluted. But even those living steadfastly in this camp should loosen up their expectations and be prepared to be surprised by Nebraska, which could be consider Payne's purest (and most melancholy) work yet.
It’s no wonder Payne chose to shoot this minimalist film in black and white. The movie offers a rather stark portrait of a man in his twilight years, following Woody Grant (Bruce Dern), who has fallen so far down a spiral of complacency, his only hope for a worthwhile future is some vague promise from a Publisher's Clearing House-like sweepstakes letter.
Dern plays a man so unkempt, his nose hair has grown to become part of his beard. Woody seems to have long given up on life until he receives the fateful sweepstakes packet in the mail. His wife Kate (June Squibb taking misanthropy to grand passive-aggressive heights) and his son David (Will Forte playing restrained with wounded heart) can only roll their eyes. So Woody decides to walk to the address on the envelope in Lincoln, Nebraska from his ramshackle Billings, Montana home with his "winner's certificate" in hand.
The bleak wintery landscape Woody tries to shamble across — until David catches up with him on several occasions — provides the perfect metaphor for this zombie of a father. David ultimately caves and offers to drive him. Along the way, mom joins the trip, as does their second son Ross (Bob Odenkirk). As they pack into David's vintage Subaru Forester, the road becomes much more than a route to redemptive treasure. It becomes a sort of time machine, as they meet close relatives who have become distant and encounter old family friends who still hold a grudge.
Working from a script by newcomer Bob Nelson, Nebraska has a darker tone than usual for Payne. But, as ever, Payne knows how to linger on a reaction shot for levity, especially if it's a dim, open-mouthed face. The film is mostly about the performances. Squibb particularly rises to grand task, timing her denouncements of those alive and dead with grim humor. Dern infuses Woody with a subtle fragility below a stubborn, cantankerous exterior. The pain of regret weighs heavy on this man, but Dern keeps his emotions buried as deep as possible. One cannot forget praise for Forte, who must play a sort of straight-man to his scenery-chewing elders. In the end, the viewer will come to understand the relationship that so closely binds this family together.
Because the performances are so strong and, as usual, the characters so soulful, it seems a shame that Payne succumbs to a temptation for retribution for David, during one brief scene toward the end. He reaches too far beyond his character. But it’s a slight misstep in an otherwise modest film. Even when the filmmakers must offer a resolution that some might fault for too much sugar coating, there is a subtle flip side that what has happened is only a bitter-sweet bandage on the inevitable. As he did with his last film, The Descendants, Payne does not resort to sentimental hokum but offers a poignant portrait of aging with the burden of regret.
4/5
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You learn the story of the Tortoise and the Hare at such an early age, but rarely if ever is its central lesson actually validated in real life. Fast people win the race! Whether it's a business meeting or the Olympics (where fastest literally wins the race), rarely if ever does the notion of slow and steady pay off in any significant way. Certainly not in America, home of the Ford Escape. And yet here we are, finally arrived at the end of a 12-leg, month-long race around the world… and it's the slowest, steadiest team in the pack that emerge as the ultimate winners. Anyway: Congratulations, Beekmans!
But first let's rewind two hours to Mallorca, Spain, where four teams still competed for the top prize. After a little preamble from Phil, giving us everyone's stake in the race (family medical bills, mortgages, jet skis) and a quick preview of the passive-aggressive taunting to follow, we were off and running. Or driving, in the ALL-NEW FORD ESCAPE WHICH EVERYONE LOVED. "Awesome!" said the Twins. "That's crazy cool." "I want one." "Get me one." And that was before everyone found out about the car's hands-free back hatch! In fairness, The Amazing Race does a far better job than most shows at keeping its product placement to a dull roar. No one's peddling REFRESHING PEPSI at a Marrakech Bazaar or struggling through the GO DADDY WHO'S YOUR DADDY? lost kid challenge in Burma, and for that we should be perpetually grateful. If keeping your production costs down means showcasing a car I'm sure my mom wants, along with all the other cool moms? Do your thing, van Munster.
En route to Loire Valley, France, Twins couldn't shut up about how much the Beekman Boys "coasted their way" to the Final Four, "taking up a spot" that belonged to someone else. Okay! Once Trey and Lexi and Chippendales started chiming in, too, the conversation was loud enough to be heard by the nearby Beekmans. They sat down with the rest of the group in what looked like the race's most uncomfortable yearbook photo yet. The high school pettiness continued as teams grabbed their FORD ESCAPES to Chateau de Villandry, the Beekmans removed from the trio's planning. Twins once more intimated how frustrating it is to have a team like them around, by which I think they meant a team they're forced to compete with? Or more specifically a team that knew the local language when no one else did, which had its advantages.
I've got something to say about Speed Bumps, which is: They're stupid. Tie up some lady's corset? Five more minutes of physical activity, tops, and that's factoring in travel time (here a brisk walk from the route marker everyone was at anyway). A real challenge might present more geographical inconvenience, or force a team to actually think in the abstract. But rote physical tasks at a nearby location offer nothing by way of a dramatic impediment. I mean, I get it — you've got a team viewers like that the producers have a vested interest in keeping around. Why offer a challenge that ensures their definite dismissal? But on a show whose reality credibility is so often head and shudders above everyone else's, those more orchestrated moments really stand out.
Anyway, the joys of watching the Chateau's "Lady of the House" get corseted by two screaming Sri Lankan twins in Lululemon gear paled in comparison to those same twins screaming at their alliance not to help Josh and Brent. "Don't let them ride on your coattails!" they called out, literally running next to the non-Speed Bump teams as they made their way toward the Ford fleet. "Don't even talk to them!" This was 30 minutes before they'd be eliminated, and even then I wasn't totally sure what to make of the Twins. On the one hand, I think they're insane? On the other, they seem genuinely able to take whatever craziness they're dishing out. The latter was on display at the Detour they and the Beekmans chose, where teams were tasked with weighing, cutting, and sorting various types of meat for a small army of hunting dogs. "You're the evil gays today!" they threw at Josh and Brent, accusing them of faking a leg injury, too. The Beekmans took it in stride and threw trash-talk right back, getting in the Twins' heads about their dwindling alliance. A Mean Girl detente? "If we lose again to them I'm going to kill myself," Natalie threatened. Then laughed. As the dogs howled and howled.
The Chippendales and Team Texas plowed a field, and did it well. There is not much more to say.
GALLERY: Best and Worst TV Gamechangers Post-Detour, all four teams headed to La Cave des Roches, where dark, musty tunnels provided the perfect growing environment for 10 varieties of mushrooms teams needed to collect. ("ERRYDAY I'M TRUFFLIN'" I sadly muttered at the TV.) Lexi nailed the configuration on round one; Jaymes got it on round two. Meanwhile I pondered how much it would suck to die in a mushroom cave. Twins and Beekmans arrived at practically the same time, the latter I have to imagine on the coattails of the former. And while it was Natalie and Nadiya who snuck out of the cave first — while Brent still struggled to find the exit — that wouldn't be the end of the race. Because for what felt like the first time this whole season, teams actually struggled with directions and translation! Trey and Lexi fumbled their way to the pit stop. Twins actually just went the wrong direction entirely. Where creative editing might in the past have suggested that Beekmans' "will they pull it out?" was phony, that was… not the case tonight. Josh and Brent pulled off something miraculous and, miracle of miracles, earned their way into the Top Three. On elimination, Twins noted that Beekmans "have tricks up their sleeves." But they also acknowledged their own shortcomings, namely needing to "harness our reactions into more positive directions." You're often shrill and circle more than few entries on the DSM-IV, ladies, but dammit if you're not full of life and, surprisingly, honest reflection. We're going to miss you for the next 500 words! …And we're back! A postcard kicks off the FINAL LEG OF THE RACE, featuring a boardwalk scene with the inscription "Wish You Were Here!" Being that teams know they're heading to New York, it can really onlybe Coney Island, but I was pulling for one team to confuse boardwalks and head to Seaside Heights, NJ. THAT would have been a hell of a Speed Bump. But no one blinks, and everyone smoothly makes their way to the Big Apple. How do you feel heading into this last stretch, Trey? "We've been battling the Chippendales these last few legs and… I think this leg is going to be sort of the same." Wiser words, buddy. While the music department worked overtime to provide a score that screamed FASTER AND WITH MORE INTENSITY, the three remaining teams scanned the boardwalk looking for the scene from their clue. The dog in sunglasses some cameraman found along the way basically made the entire race, but before we could learn more about him teams had figured out that they needed to head to the Brooklyn Navy Yard and do something related to Houdini. Could it involve a straitjacket? YES. Race has, and has long had, this weird habit of starting and ending the season with these wickedly terrifying gravity-focused challenges. In between, you sell energy drinks to Japanese businessmen and search caves for friggin' mushrooms, but when money's really on the line? You're dangling 15 stories high trying to get out of a straitjacket before you're let go, plunging toward earth. It's understandable that anyone might freak out a little. Once upon a time, a challenge like this might actively deter a team, presenting a near-insurmountable obstacle, but Trey, Brent, and Jaymes all made it through okay. Next up: pizza at Little Italy's oldest pizzeria, Lombardi's. Could you memorize orders for and deliver 10 pizzas around lower Manhattan? Trey and Lexi could, no problem, but like me, the Beekman Boys had difficulty matching pies and places. To be fair, their itinerary was a list of generic New York settings anyone might confuse: the hair salon! A bike store! Probably a firehouse and taxi dispatcher, too, though we didn't see them. Residences they delivered to were opened by New Yorkers who, not surprisingly, did not look thrilled to be greeted by Amazing Racers. "Whatsamattahyou?" everyone said, I think. When Josh and Brent were forced to revisit some of the locations they screwed up, Chippendales made up more ground. And the Race tightened, and the music quickened and everyone sat up in their chairs except me who had accidentally Googled "Beekman Boys" to see if I was spelling their name correctly and, time delay viewer that I am, had the ending totally spoiled for me. The remaining 15 minutes were just caked in misery. GALLERY: Best and Worst TV Episodes of 2012 A familiar symbol led everybody next to the UN Headquarters, and the trickiest challenge of the leg (and maybe the race): identifying the expressions for "hello" and "goodbye" used at every Pit Stop along the way and matching them to their country of origin. Because NO team had bothered to write down any of these during the race. Thanks to public school language requirements, everyone of course got "hola" and "adios." After that… two-and-a-half hours passed and the sun set before the three teams, pretty much totally even, got down to their final few flags. Josh approached his set like a "math problem," he said, rotating as many word choices through as quickly as possible in an organized trial and error. Lexi, meanwhile, was knocked around by her flags and complained that the challenge was "out of her control." I think you are using that expression incorrectly, Lexi! Josh down to Bangladesh. James down to his last flag. Even match-up! The Beekmans finished. Chippendales finished shortly after. Gotham Hall. Pit Stop. Finish Line. GO BABY GO BABY G-- Without any jerk editing or falsely planted excitement, the outcome was clear before they entered the building (but after they came in second-to-last in nearly every of the preceding legs of the race): Beekman Boys had done it. After a truly great smooch I'd been waiting for all season, Josh and Brent turned to Phil and all their friends/enemies/Twins in the crowd of defeated Racers. "If you just keep going, people will help and at some point you will win." Josh spoke of how their money will help pay off the farm mortgage and allow them to stay closer, longer, than they've been for several years. What they didn't say — but I will! — is how their victory demonstrates the merits of a level head and kind heart. Remember their perpetually sad alliance with Abbie and Ryan? The way they stuck with their partners through to the end? I have to imagine that was cosmically rewarded in some way tonight, just winkedat by some Higher Power. None of which is to say the Chippendales (2nd) or Lexi and Trey didn't deserve it just as much, maybe more, but that good things happen to good people. This season, we've noted, was one of the flat-out NICEST on record. Backstabbing only occurred in the eyes of the slightly delusional (hi Abbie and Ryan!), and most often teams were looking out for one another -- trying to make the racing experience as pleasant for those around them as they could. And hey — Chippendales still got two GREAT FORD ESCAPES out of the deal! While the world, Jaymes suggested, maybe got a "different view of Chippendales. For better or worse." Trey and Lexi didn't have much to say. Twins, who I figured would pipe up and offer some criticism of the way Beekmans conducted themselves on the mat, said nothing. It was Monster Trucker Rob, in his infinite wisdom, who offered his assessment of the race's conclusion: "It's not for me to judge anyone on their lifestyle." Okay! Next Week: Counting down the Mayan Apacolypse [Image Credit: Jonathan Littman/CBS] More: Amazing Race Finale: Who Will Win? — POLL Amazing Race Recap: Beekman Rising Amazing Race Recap: Nice Guys Finish (First Through) Last
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The Client List, Jennifer Love Hewitt's new Lifetime drama, makes no attempt to hide what it is. The words "guilty pleasure" actually appeared on screen in an ad that aired seconds before the start of last night's season premiere. However, for a show based on a Lifetime original movie about a mom turned prostitute, it was actually surprisingly decent. The reimagined Client List aims to be a folksier version of The Good Wife, and while it certainly won't be nominated for any Emmys, no one in the cast embarassed themselves in April 8's episode (which is certainly more than you can say for Smash, TV's last guilty pleasure offering).
Hewitt's role has been cleaned up considerably since she appeared in the 2010 TV movie. In the series, she stars as Riley Parks, a Texas mother of two young children. The series starts with a shot of a bare-torsoed dude lying down on a massage table as Riley nervously slips into lingerie behind a screen. Then we flash back to one month earlier, before Riley's life of happy ending debauchery began. At a backyard birthday party for her husband Kyle, she presents a gift ostensibly from the kids: an expensive leather jacket. Annoyed, Kyle asks Riley to speak with him inside. (Important side note: Hewitt has an entertaining Texan accent, and wears a midriff-baring top and low-slung jeans to the party. In other words, typical suburban mother of two attire.) Kyle reminds Riley that they're both out of work and can barely make ends meet. They bicker about money some more, and then just in case there are any concerns that the show won't be trashy enough, they start passionately making out on top of the kitchen table. Apparently they forgot that the kids, Riley's mother (Cybill Shepherd) and Kyle hotter younger brother (Colin Egglesfield) are all on the patio waiting to finish opening gifts.
While headed to a job interview, Riley runs into her old friend Selena. As Selena steps into a red sports car, she tells Riley that the spa she works at is hiring and gives her a business card. Riley shows up later with her masseuse resume in hand, but the owner, Georgia, takes one look at her and hires her on the spot. Riley doesn't suspect that there's anything unusual about the massage parlor, though co-workers keep making innuendo-laden comments like, "The tips are great. The harder I work the bigger they get," and "Don't worry honey, this job is all about flexibility."
Riley meets the other women who work at the salon, including Jolene (a.k.a. Toby's ex-wife from The West Wing) and Kendra (a.k.a. Lane's Playboy Bunny girlfriend from Mad Men). She gets to work on her first client, a young, hot oil company employee, who tells her his "hips and legs are a little tight." He grabs her butt as she's leaning over him, and she slaps his hand away, saying, "That's not on the menu!" He explains nicely, "The girls that don't give extras don't really do well here," but she pulls off his sheet and storms out of the room.
After a commercial break, Riley confronts Georgia and says what we're all thinking: "You didn't think it was important to tell me that the guys who come here expect extras?" Georgia says she assumed someone told Riley, and explains that 90% of the business is legitimate, but there's a small client list (chug your drink!) of guys who want more. Riley makes it clear that she has a loving husband and two kids at home and is simply not that kind of girl.
Cut to Riley returning home to find her house empty and immediately freaking out, since apparently Kyle never goes on jaunts to Home Depot. As it turns out, her instincts are right. She finds a note from the poor man's Keanu Reeves on the kitchen table and collapses on the floor weeping.
Back at the spa Riley learns via montage that giving massages is hard work! Some people are old, gross, and/or hairy and they don't tip very well. She caves and tells Georgia to get her one of the guys on the list. Now we've caught up to the first shot of the episode, and Riley is wearing a negligee and inching her hand up her client's leg. They have a flirty conversation and she tells him, "This is just not what I expected." It really isn't what anyone would expect dudes who pay for sexual favors from masseuses to look like. Each guy is more blindingly beautiful than the last and the episode averages about one chisled man torso every four minutes.
Her one somewhat less attractive client is a middle-aged man named Jared. She realizes he really just needs someone to talk to, and offers some advice on how he can reconcile with his wife (plus a "groin massage"). It seems that in the TV show Hewitt's character only lets her hands stray into intimate areas, while in the original she had sex with her clients.
Riley is finally able to make her mortgage payment, but her family is growing suspicious. Evan, the aforementioned hot brother-in-law, has taken to helping out around the house in Kyle's absence (while shirtless, natch). He stumbles in drunk one night and accuses Riley of having a sugar daddy. She's insulted and tells him to get out.
Riley becomes even more torn about her new line of work when someone writes "WHORE" on her car. Later she finds the culprit, Jared's wife Valerie, waiting outside her house. Rather than running in her house and calling the cops, she confronts her and winds up sharing some tips on how she can repair her marriage.
Later Evan walks in on Riley while she's changing her clothes for her kids' talent show. (Certainly it's the first and last of their romantic misunderstandings!) He apologizes, and after running into her boss Georgia at the show, Riley tells her she intends to stick with the job. Or as she puts it, "I may not have been able to save my marriage, but I'm going to save my family." Finally, after putting the kids to bed the phone rings, and it's her husband Kyle on the other end... dun, dun, dun.
Surprisingly, the worst thing about The Client List is it's time slot. There are already too many great shows on Sunday nights, and The Client List shouldn't be competing with the likes of Mad Men and Game of Thrones. This is a weeknight, unwind with a glass of pinot grigio after putting the kids to bed type of show. But, that's why they invented DVRs.
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